The Latest: Montana schools remain closed after threats

Sep. 15, 2017

KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) — The Latest on school threats in northwestern Montana (all times local):

8 p.m.

More than 30 schools across northwestern Montana's Flathead County will be closed Friday after several texted and emailed threats led to the cancellation of classes Thursday.

Sheriff Chuck Curry says the initial threat was sent to Columbia Falls on Wednesday, and other schools received similar threats.

Curry says investigators are interviewing some "persons of interest" and following up on what he called "electronically stored information." He added that investigators have made progress, but he declined to release any details about the threats.

The FBI along with law enforcement officers from Flathead County and the city of Columbia Falls are investigating.

Flathead Valley Community College also has canceled Friday classes.

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1:45 p.m.

Officials in northwestern Montana say they are interviewing "persons of interest" in several threats that led to the cancellation of classes at more than two dozen public and private schools in Flathead County.

Sheriff Chuck Curry says the initial threat, via text or email, was received by Columbia Falls on Wednesday. Others schools received similar threats and classes were canceled on Thursday.

Curry says investigators were interviewing some "persons of interest" and following up on what he called "electronically stored information." He added that he had no information leading him to believe there was an immediate public threat.

The FBI along with law enforcement officers from Flathead County and the city of Columbia Falls are investigating.

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7:45 a.m.

More than two dozen public and private schools in a northwestern Montana county canceled classes on Thursday after the school districts received threats via text message.

Kalispell Public Schools Superintendent Mark Flatau sent parents a message saying the Columbia Falls school district received threats Wednesday specifically targeting schools in their district. He says other schools in Flathead County were included in or received additional threats.

County Superintendent of Schools Jack Eggensperger did not elaborate on the nature of the threats, but said they are being investigated by law enforcement.

The closures include schools in Bigfork, Columbia Falls, Evergreen, Kalispell and Whitefish, along with private schools and Flathead Valley Community College.

The threats began hours after a high school student in a town southeast of Spokane, Washington, shot and killed a fellow student and injured three others.